Not a bird, but definitely the latter was soaring over Halton Region, police revealed Thursday.

What police for the first time flew over Milton and Halton Hills on Wednesday was a pot-spotting drone — which detected secret rural grow-ops that netted $744,000 worth of illegal weed, Sgt. Dave Cross said.

Drug and morality plus guns and gangs officers kept their feet on the ground as the covert, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) took to the skies to snoop out marijuana crops.

The battery-powered UAV, which fits into a backpack, “was able to take aerial photographs of what it was looking at and transmitted them remotely back to an operator,” Cross said.

The Halton Region force has tested and used an Aeryon Labs Inc. UAV “Micro Scout” since 2009, flying it over collision sites to take photos, and aiding in search-and-rescue operations.

Controlled by forensic specialists using laptop computers fitted with map-based, touch-screen interfaces, the 80-centimetre-long, propeller-driven 1.4 kg drone can fly up to 50 km/h has a thermal camera, using high-resolution still and video cameras fitted with 10-times optical zoom.

Pictures are so sharp, someone lost, sneaking through the woods or a corn field near a pot-grow site can be targeted with facial recognition technology.

“Most of these bandits are planting in heavy terrain, like corn fields, where a marijuana plant really stands out,” Det. Jeff Leder said.

“Its basically silent and gives us a real advantage,” he said, adding after using military helicopters or borrowing them from other police forces, “in my experience it’s the first time we’ve used it in the eradication program.”

Since 2007, Transport Canada issued flight certificates for 1,000 civilian UAVs. Such eyes-in-the-sky mini-drones are also sold around the world to police and military corporate clients.

In June, federal officials announced a business loan of up to $985,000 to help Aeryon Labs. Inc. of Waterloo hire 15 employees while advancing the design, development, and manufacture of Scouts.

Anyone with information can anonymously contact Crime Stoppers, 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), through the web at haltoncrimestoppers.com or text “Tip201” with your message to 274637(crimes).